Paintings in Progress...

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Two small experiments below with the face of my friend Chanelle. Playing with white masks. Perhaps the look of a ghost or a performer. Or both. I love 'hidden' skin tones. I especially enjoy masking layers in white oil paint. It just feels good...

Three progress shots of darling Monika. Does she appear to be getting younger?The initial under-layer is a girl in her early 20's and then to my astonishment, every stroke I made after that seemed to take her back 5 years....

Neuroscience and Art....

The last frontier of the biological sciences- the ultimate challenge- is to understand the biological basis of consciousness and the mental processes by which we perceive, act, learn, and remember. ~Eric Kandel, Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed.

The Very First Annual Brain Art Exhibition and Unconference.

Brains I Will Fetch You Light Paper And Ink
By Laura Jade
Winner of the Patron Commendation Award
March 3rd-12th 2011 Global Gallery
www.aboutmybrain.com

White Parazoa

White Parazoa is a series of small sculptures I have recently made using paper, felt and wax. Initially inspired by the Victorian Era, the geometric forms reference the designs of neck ruffles and lace of the period, while also referencing the cabinets of curios and the rise of scientific discoveries in the 17th-19th Centuries. The work also draws upon the illustrations of biologist Ernst Haeckel, focusing on sea creatures and the array of symmetrical and geometric patterns found in living organisms.

A few examples of Ernst Haeckel slides and Elizabethan portraits which informed my sculpture series. I find it beautiful, the connection between the abstract illustrations of strange life-form when put together with the style of the intricate detail in the portraits, such similarities in aesthetic.

Owl Skeleton...

I completed this little miniature oil painting after I fell in LOVE with owl skeletons, discovering them during a visit to the natural history museum. They have such personality with large sculls, delicate bodies and amazing goggle-like eye sockets.

Portrait...

A self portrait study, based on the 'dress up' photo below. 18cm x 24cm in oils, painted directly onto the canvas, no pre-sketching or planning- I was in a 'let loose' kind of mood! I finished it in one night-time sitting, with just a few touch-ups the next day. It came out rather evil & darker than I had meant it to be, I look cunning or devious! But I am happy with the glowing effect of the light colours contrasted with the dark background.

Rembrandt...

A small 12'x12' oil portrait I painted a little while ago. His cute smile and glowing face reminded me of the persona of Rembrandt, I nicknamed him and it stuck . I have since given it to my nanna as I think she had a little crush on him.

Eliza...

I attended a printmaking workshop at Pine Street Studios, where I learnt how to use solar plate printing. Its fantastic- there are no chemicals. The plate is coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, and similar to the way you expose an image onto a silk-screen, you use an acetate of your drawing/image and expose it under a UV lamp (or the sun). The 'dark' areas wash out in water! You then dry the plate under a blow-dryer to set the surface, and your ready to ink-up!
This is the artwork I made...

Queen Elizabeth...

I find Tudor and Elizabethan Portraits really fascinating. I've been working on a series of self portraits, in oils, appropriating my own image to Queen Elizabeth I. In the lace-work detail, I had the idea to incorporate science using cellular patterns, sacred geometry and stellar maps, acknowledging advances in astronomy and the scientific method by Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler during the Elizabethan period.

A small 12'x14' study of an amalgamation of various Queen Elizabeth portraits I discovered. 

Scotland...

A series of photographs I took on a mesmerizing visit to Scotland.

Cesky Krumlov...

Seemingly squished up into a spiral, Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic is as close to fairytale picturesque as it gets...

....There is even a castle with a pink tower.

  I discovered that Egon Schiele had lived in Cesky Krumlov in the early 1900's.

The Egon Schiele Art Centre was built to exhibit his intimate drawings and watercolours....

Here is a series of small  watercolours I painted based on the town...